After some research over last weeks, my choice goes to the SG06 + SFX 300W PSU (also from SilverStone, because less cables than Be Quiet SFX 300W).

I want to have something as quiet as possible, but on budget. (I would directly choose a picoPSU for silence, but it seems more expensive. 129€ on Amazon, compared to 52€ the SFX)It's a pity, because when I am running 100% CPU on my current rig, i can't even pass 75W on the AC plug, so it's very low power config.

Do you think the SG06 is a good choice for silence + budget?I have seen the nice smaller ones, fanless, like Streacom but they are 140€ just the case. Out of my budget goal here.

I want to have something as quiet as possible, but on budget.(I would directly choose a picoPSU for silence, but it seems more expensive. 129€ on Amazon, compared to 52€ the SFX)

Pico PSUs are more expensive (and more efficient) than cheap SFX PSUs. You picked a very expensive bundle. 120W Pico PSU and brick for 70€ + 14€ S&H Europe.

thierry. wrote:

Do you think the SG06 is a good choice for silence + budget?I have seen the nice smaller ones, fanless, like Streacom but they are 140€ just the case. Out of my budget goal here.

Yes, with a Pico PSU you have a lot of room for a tall tower cooler that'll run very quietly. The noisiest component would be a mechanical hard drive. With such frugal components you can remove the front fan and suspend the hard drive in the front of the case. The only down side to the case are the USB ports which are too close together to use them simultaneously.

thierry. wrote:

Do you have other suggestions for SFF case? and SFX quiet PSU?

The Lian Li PC-Q07B works just as well as the SG06 if you prefer the looks.

A very small form factor alternative would be to build a system with the Akasa Euler case, it should be able to handle a Haswell dual core CPU. There are several limitations, most of which stem from tha fact that the case only accepts thin mini ITX boards, like small selection of mainboards and few onboard ports on these mainboards. The system comes with a Pico PSU style power system, The case comes with a power brick, thin mini ITX boards have a Pico style system on board.The Gigabyte GA-H81TN is a fairly inexpensive board, the ASUS Q87T not so much, but it is available at the moment. You would have to use a mSATA SSD and a 2.5" drive for storage.This would make an extremely small, cost efficient and quiet system.

Im a big fan of silverstone and lian li cases, but on mini itx, i like more Fractal Design Node 304 £64.98, you will find tons of builds to get ideas on OCN [Official] Fractal Design Node 304 Owners Club. What i like about it is that it can fit very big tower cooler (even some twin towers), specially since you are not using the PCIe slot, should allow almost anything, the great of the Node 304 is that it still uses a standard ATX PSU, not limited to SFX models, so what ever you like should be good here, i would recommend to look for not so long PSU, like Seasonic Platinum are not that big (160mm until 850W), or you could even ran an internal brick for picoPSU (if you were to find it cheaper). It also has a built in fan controller so you can easily lower the rpms of the included fans to your liking.

I found also some cheaper 120W brick. But I don't know enough on picoPSU. Do we need a "branded" brick for quality? Or any 120W brick from an old laptop would do the same?

Ther are two things to consider: voltage and connectors. Generic laptop power brick usually deliver 19V, Pico PSU needs 12V. Pico PSU has a small round connector for the external power brick, not all bricks use the exact style and size.If you buy a bundle, you are on the safe side.

thierry. wrote:

The Lian Li is aluminum I guess? I read on SPCR that thin light cases are more pron to vibration and resonance.

That's mainly a prolem for HDD noise. If you suspend or otherwise decouple the drive, it shouldn't be a problem.

thierry. wrote:

For the CPU cooler I was first thinking a low profile NH-L9i.But with external PSU I have more room. You are right.

Ther are two things to consider: voltage and connectors. Generic laptop power brick usually deliver 19V, Pico PSU needs 12V. Pico PSU has a small round connector for the external power brick, not all bricks use the exact style and size.If you buy a bundle, you are on the safe side..

When searching for the picoPSU, this brick is proposed. 30€ + 43€ the picoPSU 150W = 73€Which is more reasonable than the other package I found, 130€, but the brick was 192W (I don't need so much)

If you think the Lian Li is good, I like the tower style (smaller footprint on the table).But I also don't need any optical drive. (but it gives more room for the cooler, maybe.)

Do you know if the PicoPSU are as safe and as good as the good brand 80+ PSU?We can rely on them?(it's completely new for me. I'm bit afraid, but also very tempted by the small size and the silent operation)

Boost,it seems you are in Germany.Do you know anything about the brand Cooltek?Like the Coolcube, 55€Thanks

(Edit: I was crazy when I bought my TJ08-E + Be Quiet Straight Power E9 400W last year. PSU + case are a big shunk of my total cost)

Ther are two things to consider: voltage and connectors. Generic laptop power brick usually deliver 19V, Pico PSU needs 12V. Pico PSU has a small round connector for the external power brick, not all bricks use the exact style and size.If you buy a bundle, you are on the safe side..

When searching for the picoPSU, this brick is proposed. 30€ + 43€ the picoPSU 150W = 73€Which is more reasonable than the other package I found, 130€, but the brick was 192W (I don't need so much)

If you think the Lian Li is good, I like the tower style (smaller footprint on the table).But I also don't need any optical drive. (but it gives more room for the cooler, maybe.)

Do you know if the PicoPSU are as safe and as good as the good brand 80+ PSU?We can rely on them?(it's completely new for me. I'm bit afraid, but also very tempted by the small size and the silent operation)

Boost,it seems you are in Germany.Do you know anything about the brand Cooltek?Like the Coolcube, 55€Thanks

(Edit: I was crazy when I bought my TJ08-E + Be Quiet Straight Power E9 400W last year. PSU + case are a big shunk of my total cost)

thierry. wrote:

Do you know if the PicoPSU are as safe and as good as the good brand 80+ PSU?We can rely on them?(it's completely new for me. I'm bit afraid, but also very tempted by the small size and the silent operation)

If it was my system I would get the Pico PSU and silent CPU cooler, The Kozuti or other coolers that small are not quiet enough for my taste.

These are the top two choices, why bother going through more choices when you're just gonna end up where you started anyway?

thierry. wrote:

Boost,it seems you are in Germany.Do you know anything about the brand Cooltek?Like the Coolcube, 55€

True for the place of residence. I've only used Lian Li cases so far, from the reviews I gather the Cooltek cases (Jonsbo cases with Colltek branding, really) have a sturdy construction, sometimes even better than Lian Li, but they are small, whch doesn't matter much for your proposed system with a Pico PSU.With a Full size PSU there are other Cooltek cases U1 and U2 which work nicely. The U1 will only accept a tower cooler with a 92mm fan (135mm height), but with a dual core CPU that is not really a limitation.You can use the optical bay of the Lian Li to suspend the hard drive, in the Cooltek cases you could use this method.In the U1/U2 you can use a full size PSU. The choice between either of these cases is more a cosmetic one, they're all fine.

I spent the day reading some reviews, looking at existing builds and configs, etc.I like the vertical shape, which leave a smaller footprint on the table. (although the SG06 is not much bigger on the table)

This case would allow me to build it for cheaper, using my existing ATX PSU, then if not satisfied, I could add the bigger heatsink and the picoPSU.

You told me about suspending the 3.5 HDD, I guess I would do on the top of the case. (I don't use optical drive)(Just as I am doing in my current build). Maybe using the No Vibes that you sent me the link. Or doing it by myself.

I wish the red version was still on the market. It looks very different to the black, white and silver that we see everywhere.But it seems it was discontinued, long time ago. Too bad.

FWIW, i really love my Q-07! with a pico and a little duct work i can fit a single 140mm fan on the CPU and it pulls air from underneath and exasuts out the top.

the only real drawback with the Q07 is the front usb bracket limits the size gpu you can put in there. i had to forcefully remove my front usb bracket and the nuts, to fit my card in. (its spot welded on)

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Are you thinking of the fan on the CPU, and the duct to the back?Would you draw it for us?

We could also do a big Thermalright, with a ducting to the back, like this:

Attachment:

air duct in lian li pc-q07 with hr-02 heatsink.jpg

Or I was thinking, to have the fan on the case, with ducting around the heatsink to the fan.

Mhm... I guess I am bit dreaming and over-thinking... My build is intended for low power, low heat, low noise.I don't think it will generate so much heat with the i3-4330, that I actually need to install a fan exhaust. But who knows.I'll only see when I actually start running it.

Quote:

the only real drawback with the Q07 is the front usb bracket limits the size gpu you can put in there

I just want to chime in and remind you to take a step back and consider the size of the cases you are looking at again. The more standard component and less interference you have, the bigger you must go. Just because a case is called Mini-ITX doesn't automatically make them smaller. Below is a list of case sizes in volume for your reference:

As you can see, at around 20 litres in size, you start to see cases that are in the Micro-ATX category. Was your original intention of going small achieved by choosing Node 304, which is smaller by about 30% compared to your TJ08-E, but actually taking up slightly more space on your desk with its larger footprint (Node 304 at 250mm x 374mm vs. TJ08-E at 210mm x 385mm)?

I got some answer on the OCN forum, that it can make problem for the graphic board. A big cooler might be too close tot he PCIENo big issue for me, I don't intend to put a GPU (now or even later)

SST Guy wrote:

I just want to chime in and remind you to take a step back and consider the size of the cases you are looking at again.

Thanks Guy (is it "Guy" the name, or "Guy" like "the SST Man"?),Point taken. You put me back on my tracks. The Node 304 with the motherboard and PSU on bottom is the biggest on the table. Bigger than my actual (It was the first requirement in this thread: "smaller footprint and still silent")

3 pieces of packing foam are used to divide case into top and bottom half. everything below 140mm fan is intake, everything above fan is exhaust. i taped off the bottom 2 inches of the upper grill on the lid to stop an air short from occurring. (basically blocked grill on the lid between GPU and top of fan.) fan body is ~2mm from lid when its closed- a small lip of folded electrical tape acts as a gasket to seal lid to fan body.case also sits on a 1" riser to facilitate better airflow from underneath. 2.5" hybrid hard drive is in a combo slot loading cage up top.

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Last edited by xan_user on Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:38 am, edited 3 times in total.

I am not sure it's the ideal case.From what I read around here, the fanless PSU are better at the top of the case, with top opening for the heat to go out.

In the Node 304, the heat will just add into the case, which means the back fan might run faster.Seasonic has some good series with fan that only turns at higher load and that are still silent. If you really want the Node, I think it would be better.

It also depends on what you want to put inside. A small i3 CPU, like me? Or a big i7, with the GPU, etc? which will generate a lot of heat..

The air intake is from the bottom, no mesh on the side panel.I would not need to close the side, like xan_user on his Q07.Then, maybe I would be able to run a single fan for the CPU cooler and the case.

Anybody have used the Q27? or seen it in real?

There only one thing that could be bad for the silent build : the side panels are sliding into place, with one screw to fix.Could there be a problem with vibration, compare to a panel that is screwed with 4?

FTR, i only closed 2" of the side vents on the 07. I used a strip of clear packing tape on the inside. the bottom vent on the side panel is left open,as part of the overall intake. and the top 2/3 of the top vent on the side panel, are also open as part of the exhaust. i just stopped the air from sucking in right next to the fan, above the gpu. i tried to keep restrictions at a bare minimum.

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I was looking at this case but It does not seem to be available in the USA. So I purchased the CM 130 Elite with the black mesh in the front. I usually dont build computers with video cards. I would not really call myself a silent builder, but I just like a quiet comptuer to use for internet video websites.

I kind of wonder if those thin mini-itx boards are any good but I dont want to buy one to find out I dont like it. The Idea is that they dont use a big bulky power supply so there is more room if you put a standard cooler on it. You just have to watch the total number of watts on the AC 2 DC adapter. The boards I saw use a 19v external power supply. So I decided against it.

I was thinking like you, to put the drives on the side, for open airflow.There is not much space on the Coolcube, and no mounting on the sides.

The Q27 has some mounts, on the front panel (inside), where I can fit the SSD.And could use the extra top space, to suspend the HDD.But it will stay always in the hottest place of the case.Not a problem?

(My 2 HDDs were also sitting on the top of my TJ08-E. I did not have problem until now. But it has strong airflow, with the 180mm running at 700rmp.)

I am planning to run only one fan, from the CPU cooler.To cool down my small CPU (i3-4330), and by the same way, to exhaust warm air from the case.

Either putting the fan on the case, if there is enough space, sucking the air through the close cooler, expulsing to the outside.Or, if not enough space between cooler and back side, the fan will push air throught the cooler and to the outside.

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